The Courtesy of Death
by THEAllenxLenalee
Summary: A-ya is dead, killed by C-ta for a reason unknown to him. However, death is not an ending for A-ya. Instead, it provides him an opportunity to put himself on even ground with his killer, and see things he never imagined. fandom: Shuuenpro (Shuuen no Shiori) pairings: CA (C-ta/A-ya)


**Hi there everybody! froggychan here. You're probably wondering what the heck I'm doing, since I have three fics that haven't updated for months. Despite that, here I am posting something brand new. See the thing is, I've been super busy, and majorly lacking in inspiration. Now it's winter break and I actually have some time to write. See a few days ago I became obsessed with Shuuen no Shiori. As such, I haven't been able to think or write about anything else. So I wrote the first part to a quick little two chapter fic I planned out while on vacation. Hopefully I'll have some time to do an update for one of my AllenxLenalee fics after I post part two of this. **

**So anyway, this is my first Shuuen no Shiori fanfiction. Based on what I know (the manga, songs, and first novel) there's one death that I'm still unclear on. That would be C-ta. The question "who killed him" seems to linger in the air. I've seen some stuff saying A-ya killed C-ta, so I decided to do my own version of that. Poor little dead A-ya. **

**One more thing. I'm sorry if this seems a little out of character. I did the best I could to match the tone to that of A-ya's narration from the novel, but i'm not sure if I succeeded or not. I hope it sounds like him, and if it doesn't, i tried my best. **

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><p>I returned to consciousness slowly. My eyes drifted open and I was able to make a few observations. I was on the ground crumpled on my side, my cell phone sitting in the palm of my hand. The dim light of my phone showed the text composition screen. The unfinished message read "It hurts so bad.. I should be scared.. it hurtttttssssssssssssssssssssssssssss." It trailed off. I stared numbly at the screen and had the sudden realization of an unbearable pain in my stomach. I didn't want to feel that pain. I closed my eyes and waited for everything to disappear. It did.<p>

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><p>I woke up again. That moment of peace, when everything had disappeared, I was sure that had been death. Death. Why had I died? Was it because of the demise game? No. I played by the rules and performed my task. My task. That was it. Something had happened while I had played hide and seek alone. The source of that ominous gaze had found me. Was my killer the gaze I had felt for so long? I was sure it was. Who had killed me? Was it Kokkuri san? No. It had been someone with a familiar face, an old friend. Wasn't it... C-ta? That was right. C-ta had killed me. He had stabbed me through the stomach like I had stabbed that old doll. Hadn't I named the doll C-ta? The universe was playing with me. It had relieved me of my boredom, but with a fatal cost.<p>

Now that I could recall what happened, I felt a strange calm settle in my mind. So I was dead. Hadn't I just become the very sort of thing I was fascinated with? Wasn't this a good thing? I told myself that, and yet, I was crying. I sat up, and touched the single dead tear, falling down my dead face. I supposed that anyone would be sad to be dead. After all, I wouldn't be able to speak to B-ko or C-ta anymore.

I surprised myself by thinking fondly of C-ta. Hadn't he killed me? I recalled again the fragmented memories of my death. I remembered C-ta stabbing me, an expression on his face like I had never seen. I remembered my last seconds of conciousness before death, when I had so badly wanted to die. I remembered the peace I had felt at the moment of my death. Didn't C-ta, my killer and my childhood friend, deserve the same deadly freedom. Death was both the ultimate punishment and the ultimate reward. C-ta deserved nothing less.

I stood and turned to examine the body I had left behind. I was even paler than usual, and my clothes were stained with spattered blood. I had been stabbed in the stomach with a box cutter, and it stuck out of me, serving as a hideous reminder. I pulled the blade out of myself, and a final trickle of blood followed. The sight brought on a wave of nausea, but I choked it back and turned toward the door.

I stumbled through my door, and paused for a moment to gather my thoughts. I had to stay calm. I focused myself on the blade in my hand. It had passed through the door along with me. It seemed I could affect that object, despite my insubstantial form.

Satisfied with my state of mind, I continued along the familiar path to C-ta's home. It was early morning, and the cars that passed by seemed to take no notice of me. As I walked, I realized that that was the first time I had walked that route without a feeling of crushing and unending boredom. Death had made my body light, and my mind open to things and thoughts I had never seen before. It was the ultimate cure for the dulldrum I called the world. As a pessimistic person, it seemed I was better suited to death than life. C-ta deserved the same experiences I had found. The terrible pain of death, and the curiosities that followed. With that final, pessimistic thought, I reached C-ta's home.

I entered easily without a sound, and found him alone in his kitchen. His family wasn't home. C-ta was completely engrossed in his phone, which was sounding off one alert after another. He always was popular. I slipped out of my usual neutral expression, and smiled just a little. I opened my mouth to speak, and as I did, C-ta's phone rang. I spoke as he answered it, and my words were matched up with those coming from the speaker.

"Right now I am... right behind you."

C-ta turned to face me, and his face twisted into an expression of absolute terror. I quietly noted how different this C-ta was than the one I was used to. This new, more interesting C-ta, deserved to be released from boredom like I had. I stabbed him. He fell, phone in hand, into almost the exact same position I had died in.

"A-ya...?"

He said my name like a question. My smile faded as I remembered what terrible pain C-ta would be feeling just then. I watched him die with my usual neutral expression. As the reality of what I had done hit me, I reached for my phone. It wasn't in my pocket. Unable to write out my emotions, I felt them gathering on my face. I fell to my knees in front of C-ta, my face was simultaniously laughing and crying. Inside I was numb.

I reached out to touch C-ta's skin, to assure myself that this was real, and everything shattered. The world exploded into tiny shards around me, and I was left floating in nothingness. There was a sense of peace, like what I had felt when I died. Then, through the void, came a light. It was a window into a memory, ancient and distantly familiar. I moved toward it.

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><p><strong>So that's part one of my first Shuuenpro fic. Part two should be up within a couple days. As I said, I'm not sure if I managed to keep A-ya in character or not. It's weird writing as someone other than Allen or Lenalee. <strong>

**As always, I hoped you enjoyed my writing**

**-froggychan**


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